Escape Into I nto Architecture Architecture GAUTAM BHATIA 3 Features
If imagined spaces cannot be built on land, let them inhabit a place in the s!" s!"
A
t the lobb! of the #ahanuma $alace in Bhopal%no& a hotel%is a formal portrait of
Bhopal's begums" Full! clothed in burqas , the! are seated in tiers, as in an! formal group photograph" The photo caption belo& re(eals the names, )*eated from left to right+ Begum ahanara, Begum -oor, Begum./ and so on" For a long &hile I stood bac and pondered the riddle of the photograph" 0as this a form of ro!al social record, e(en though no identifiable bod! part &as (isible1 2r &as it some sort of satire1 The photograph's essential criteria to re(eal &ere st!mied b ! the Islamic draper!'s criteria to conceal" It &as lie someone assessing car designs b! comparing chassis numbers" I didn 't no& &hether to laugh or cr!" $erhaps the photographer had e(en ased the begums to smile behind their (eils"
$ublic Baths+ A string of tubs in a desert the iron! of Indian architectural #u4taposition
Architecture, too, has learnt to distance itself from the obser(er" To li(e behind the (eil" 5ie the in(isible begums , for so long, m! o&n understanding of buildings &as similarl! limited to the fa6ade" 5imited, in fact, to that first sighting of deception behind &hich la! a more pugnacious realit!" 0hen it comes to houses, or for that matter an! form of building, people become grand in their ambitions" Bu!ing a fridge or pair of shoes does not impart (isibilit! or identit! to the user, architecture does" $eople s&ear and s&eep across the spectrum of possibilities and become lie spoilt, demanding children" A staircase remembered from a European trip, a bathroom recalled from a apanese hotel, an outdoor acu77i from Indonesia" I &ant it, I must ha(e it8 the cesspool of architecture clouds the e!es and maes the impossible possible"
9abinet Apartments+ *o precious, the! are enclosed and protected insi de a cabinet
I once ne& someone &ho treated architecture lie a great heroic ad(enture, much lie a gruelling and ha7ardous climb up Mount E(erest" :esign &ould begin casuall!" But as ideas poured in, he &ould become recless and bold" )I'd lie a heated lap pool outside the bedroom,/ he'd propose" His instruction &ould cause a minor bli77ard at base camp" I'd &arn, )But !our bedroom is on the third floor"/ )*o;/ After a &hile, he'd (enture again up another untested slope, ):o !ou thin &e could ha(e a dri(e< in dra&ing room/1 This from the man &ho has to ha(e the latest BM0 shipped directl! from German!" )But &h!1/ I'd as foolishl!" ):o !ou &ant to par the car beh ind the sofa1/ -o response" He &ould ha(e alread! mo(ed on to thoughts of helipads and roof
Tree House+ A log hut inside a log, redra&ing the &orld in mechanical simplicit!
I often remember the 2ldenburg line, onl! as a continual reminder of the necessit! of stupid in architecture" 9le(er had been the desired apprehension in buildings that had long pretended to be more than &hat the! &ere" But &ithout the bitters&eet e4perience of ris and pleasure, architecture fell lamel! into a professional trap" The monochromatic practice of building &ith a straight face and follo&ing the stifling rules of cultural obligation, social status, and the ph!sics of gra(it!, left e(er! ne& design a mere moc drill in industrial assembl!, tinged &ith the architect's personal aesthetic armour!, a defeated deflated spirit" Architecture, to me, had become the most scathing indictment of failure, m! failure" *o I began to mo(e a&a! from the proper and the #ust, and all the singular entanglements of professional life" I ne& if I thought too long about all the things precious to me, there &as al&a!s the fear that little b! little, the! &ould in(ade m! mind and mae it infertile" Architecture's memor! is the hardest to ignore8 it is reinforced da! and night, in the mind, in the neighbourhood, in the cit!"
>ac?uet 9lub+ A tennis club in the shape of a rac?uet, dra&ing that &hich &ill ne(er be built
I ha(e caught m!self on occasion &ith a deliberatel! destructi(e and per(erse urge to&ards m! o&n &or" I &ant to mae pri(ac! public and tae public actions into the innermost sanctum+ a ban (ault made in glass, e4posing mone! and gold to the street, a man urinating in public no&ing full &ell that he can't be seen outside, a &oman bathing &ithout a &all surrounding her but in complete pri(ac!" Then blur the definitions of inside and ou t+ mae a road that runs inside a building, a building that sits on top of a road" E(en re(erse the con(entions of mo(ement and repose+ build a home as a bridge bet&een the t&o bans of a ri(er, mae a li(ing room in a mo(ing ele(ator" 2r confuse the relationship &ith the Up and :o&n+ a basement &ith a glass floor (ie&ing the mud ground beneath, a s! e4perienced in a basement, an attic &ithout a roof" Ho& about furniture hung on &alls or attached to the ceiling, paintings on the floor, a mall &ith no glass, a hotel &ithout corridors, a booshop that is also a diner, a restaurant in a mo(ing bus" The dual nature of such buildings is a m!opic, almost obsessi(e claim" In m! neighbourhood, I see a &oman bu!ing fresh flo&ers for her puja room e(er! da!" The florist displa! is against the local maret's public urinal" *trangel!, the urinal's stench and pro4imit! don't seem to diminish the sanctit! of the fresh flo&ers and their intended place in a religious setting" 9hoosing to be blind to all that !ou don't &ant to see maes life tolerable"
09 @illa+ A (illa as a &ater closet, maing pri(ate spaces public
Ho&e(er hard I'(e tried, I am unable to culti(ate that blindness" E(er! time I mo(e out of the house, onto the street, it is &ith fear and trepidation" *omething of &hat &e build, the &a! it relates to its surroundings, the &a! it e(entuall! falls apart, grates on (isual memor!" If there is a professed spatial, humanist or artistic spirit to architecture, it is impossible to see it in the dail! encounters &ith the cit!" Flagging in spirit, unsightl!, blemished and depressing, the clutter of shops and houses and offices and malls are lie &ounds on the sin of the earth, spreading lie parasites, smudging s!lines, and slo&l! sucing out the (isual pleasures of ordinar! life" The cit! is a &asted place, and the architecture that rises &ithin it onl! contributes a dail! dose of hostilit! and conflict in an alread! chaotic en(ironment" E(en &hen buildings are made &ith grandiose intentions, collecti(el! the! become a #umble, inseparable from each other%lie garlands of marigolds piled on a dead bod!"
Escalator+ 9onfusing the relationship &ith the Up and :o&n, the dual nature of architecture
0hen that happens, there is little to do but retreat" I &ant to mo(e a&a! from the clutter and chaos, to the ?uiet promise of the dra&ing board" 0ith pencil in hand, there is a desperate &ish to brea free, to build in imaginar! space, unconnected to the ground b! gra(it!, to mae an earth !et uninhabited, &here architecture is an idealised presence" I need to dra& that &hich I &ill ne(er build" A house in an apple, an office floating in the clouds, a hotel made of suitcases, a car &ash as a tub" Apartment houses so precious, the! are enclosed and protected inside a cabinet" For a &hile such dra&ings help me escape into childhood and I begin to redra& the &orld in mechanical simplicit!+ a tennis club in th e shape of a rac?uet, a (illa as a 09, public baths as a string of tubs, a log hut inside a log"
9ar 0ash+ Three cars in a tub, maing public spaces pri(ate
But not for long" *ometimes, architecture's most persistent refrain does not #ust demand a rebellion against con(ention, but a complete ph!sical re(ersal of con(ention itself" The absence
of &ater in the desert concludes &ith a sil(er faucet that drenches re(ellers suspended in a &ell" The absence of ground&ater in an ancient &ater tan is substituted &ith a mineral &ater bottle" $artl!, such dra&ings are done to state the persistent iron! of Indian architectural #u4tapositions, the phenomenon of puja room flo&ers against the urinal &all" M! o&n brea a&a! is not diminishing the importance of architecture, but an enlargement of its possibilities for me" It is hard to e4pect that ideas &ill assume a personalit! of their o&n, that a minor significance in dra&ing &ill raise its (oice loud enough to be heard" It is onl! a hope, an architectural missile aimed at a dar threatening s!" 0here it &ill land, if e(er, is another matter"
E4ca(ation+ A complete re(ersal of con(ention itself
